John Paskievich

Canadian (born in Austria), b. 1947

Untitled, from the series North End, Winnipeg, 1976

silver print on paper, silver halide

35.3 x 27.7 cm Image: 30.2 x 20 cm

Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Acquired with the J. Elmer Woods Fund

G-82-38

Categories:

Photograph, Photography

John Paskievich’s long-standing interest in documenting Winnipeg’s North End is not just a photographic project; it is very much his auto-biography. Paskievich’s family moved to Canada when he was five years old, settling in the North End of Winnipeg, a community that welcomed waves of Ukrainian, Polish, and German immigrants. His powerful images, such as this one, are the distillation of a sensitive response to his urban environment. Here, the striped pattern of the pants melds with the patterning of the carpet which in turn engulfs the person’s upper body and head. This image belies the mythical magic of Winnipeg’s North End, where unusual vignettes occur spontaneously on a regular basis.